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Parliament’s Powers and Privileges Committee meets today to consider the incident which led to the National Assembly (NA) sitting of 21 August having to be adjourned.

NA Speaker Ms Baleka Mbete referred the matter to the committee for consideration. Once the committee has considered the issue, it will report to the NA on its findings and recommendations.

Unlike the Parliamentary Committees which deal with oversight over the Executive and lawmaking, the Powers and Privileges Committee operates similarly to the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests, in its dealings with disciplinary matters affecting Members.

The proceedings of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests are closed to the public (including the media) when such matters are considered. Likewise, the proceedings of the Powers and Privileges Committee are also closed to the public and the media.

The findings and recommendations of the committee are made public, however.

As is the case with all Parliamentary committees, the Powers and Privileges Committee is a multi-party structure.

The committee met last week for the first time and elected its chairperson, Mr Lemias Mashile. Mr Mashile was co-chairperson of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests in the fourth Parliament, together with Professor Ben Turok.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE RSA